Marquette’s sophomore forward Sarina Simmons blocked two shots under the basket, triggering a Golden Eagle fast break that led to a drive-and-kick and subsequent 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in regulation.
That sequence and the defensive stop afterward punched No. 8 seed Marquette’s ticket into the second round of the NCAA Tournament and earned it a 68-65 victory over No. 9 seed Texas.
Coach Terri Mitchell said everything starts with defense for her team.
“We switched a lot and tried to give different looks,” she said. “That’s what we try to do to keep people off-balance.”
Senior guard Kathleen Nash, the Longhorns’ leading scorer and second-leading rebounder entering the game, was Texas’ biggest offensive threat.
Senior guard Tatiyiana McMorris took on the responsibility of guarding the 6-foot-2 Nash, who scored 19 points for the game and added nine rebounds.
Nash had the ball for the final shot to tie the game, but McMorris and a crowd of Marquette defenders ensured she wouldn’t get a good look at the basket during the final possession.
“She had made a lot of shots during the game, and so we keyed on her and didn’t want her to shoot the ball,” McMorris said.
Defense in the last 40 seconds of game was vital with the teams tied at 65. Simmons’ two consecutive blocks created a momentum shift in the Golden Eagles’ favor.
Marquette held Texas to 39.2 percent (29-of-74) shooting from the field for the game, which helped propel the Golden Eagles to victory.
Senior forward Paige Fiedorowicz said playing as a team defensively was the only way to top the Longhorns.
“At the end, all we needed was a stop, so we just told each other to play smart and work hard to get the loose balls,” Fiedorowicz said.
The team prides itself on playing “Marquette basketball,” and strong defense was certainly part of the Golden Eagle’s game plan for Saturday’s matchup.
In the opening game of the Big East tournament on March 5, defense helped the Golden Eagles sneak past Pittsburgh for the second time this season.
Marquette held the Panthers at 61 points for the final one minute, 10 seconds to pull ahead and win 65-61.
Looking back to Feb. 26, defense was also the deciding factor in the Golden Eagles 60-53 upset over No. 11 DePaul. The Blue Demons shot only 29.2 percent (19-of-65) from the field that game.
Even DePaul’s junior guard Keisha Hampton, who averages 15.8 points per game this season, said she struggled against Marquette’s defense that night, even though she was able to score 17 points.
The defense has been strong over the final stretch of the season, but it wasn’t strong enough to defeat top-seeded Tennessee in a 79-70 loss Monday night.
